Sjonnie Boonstra

My name is Sjonnie Boonstra. I am trained as a structural engineer, hold a master’s degree in Structural Engineering and Design, and obtained my PhD in multidisciplinary optimisation of building layouts. During this research, I developed extensive in-house software for geometry, structural calculations and data analysis, and discovered how much more you can get out of a design when you combine engineering with programming. After completing my PhD, I joined ABT, and alongside this I conducted a postdoctoral fellowship at EPFL in Switzerland, in the CONSTRUCT lab. There, I worked on digital design methodologies for material-efficient flat slab floors, at the intersection of research and practice.

What I do at ABT

At ABT, I work on the digitalisation of our design processes. Using Python in particular, I automate calculation and design tasks and make complex analyses accessible to project teams. This includes tools that evaluate large numbers of design variants, visualise results clearly, or link different software platforms together. My broad knowledge of structural and architectural engineering challenges helps ensure that these digital solutions truly align with practical reality. I find it highly rewarding when colleagues can work faster or produce stronger justifications using a tool I developed.

Colleagues often contact me for tasks involving extensive computational work or variant studies, for parametrically or optimised design, or when models and data need to be linked. I also contribute to discussions on the use of digital tools and AI within projects, with attention to reliability and safety.

My dream for the future

My ambition is to make digital methods and classical engineering even more naturally intertwined at ABT. The possibilities of AI, parametric design and powerful computational models are expanding rapidly, but they also require a solid foundation: strong digital infrastructure, clear quality assurance, and colleagues who understand what happens “under the hood.” I want to help strengthen this foundation by developing solutions that teams can immediately benefit from, and by sharing knowledge. In doing so, we can increase our societal impact: creating better, more efficient and more sustainable designs, without compromising on safety and reliability.